The Foundation

What is City of Knowledge?

Just a few minutes from downtown Panama City, City of Knowledge is strategically located across from the Panama Canal. Some 120 hectares and more than 200 buildings of what was once the Clayton military base are now home to a booming international community established for the purpose of business, academic, scientific, and humanistic collaboration. The objective is human and sustainable development based on knowledge.

City of Knowledge is a management platform that focuses on boosting the innovative and competitive capacities of the users who share the Campus. Integration, dynamic networking, and joint efforts facilitate the transference of knowledge.

This allows for an unusual concentration of innovative firms, international organizations focused on development, as well as academic and research institutions, resulting in a lively and successfully collaborative community. In order to strengthen these dynamics, City of Knowledge provides access to a series of benefits and services aimed at the needs of its users.

Origins

The process of transferring the Canal and the surrounding military and civilian areas from the United States to Panama ended in the year 2000. This led to an awareness of the need to convert some of these spaces, previously dedicated to military use, into areas aimed at human development with a particular emphasis on contributing to the improved quality of life for Panamanians. This became the focus of the City of Knowledge Foundation (FCDS) from its creation in 1995. Four years later, the FCDS symbolically received the key as the first user of Clayton from the President of the Republic.

Background

Panama became fully sovereign thanks to the Torrijos-Carter Treaties (1977), which gave sovereignty back to Panama over the interoceanic canal and the adjacent areas that were under US control, i.e. a total of 1,432 square kilometers (552.9 square miles). This historic moment was also a time of dreams and innovating projects for the country, in search of the final way to development.

The City of Knowledge was born of those dreams and is the cornerstone for that development based on innovation, entrepreneurial culture and sustainability. In 1994, Panamanian industrialist Fernando Eleta Almarán proposed the creation of a Socratic Square, a center for knowledge exchange, in the so-called Reverted Areas, and turning what was then the Panama Canal College into the University of the Americas.

The proposal was accepted by the late Foreign Affairs Minister Gabriel Lewis Galindo, who had already contemplated transforming the US military bases into the City of Knowledge. In December of the same year, President Ernesto Pérez Balladares presented the idea at the Summit of the Americas held in Miami (USA).

The years 1995 and 1996 saw the foundations built of what is today the City of Knowledge. The non-profit foundation that manages the park today was organized in early 1995, and the convention called "A Possible Utopia", which gathered national and foreign intellectuals together, was held in Bambito in June the same year. Those were the first steady steps toward shaping the project. The feasibility study conducted by the Academy for Educational Development (AED) in 1996 confirmed that the utopia was already a possible reality, and that its birthplace was what -at the time- was still the Clayton military base.

On November 30, 1999, during the final stage of the Canal's reversion to Panama, the President of the Republic at the time, Mireya Moscoso, handed the symbolic key to Clayton to Mr. Juan David Morgan, president of the Board of Trustees of City of Knowledge Foundation.

The 21st century began in Panama with a space for exchange, growth, and innovation. The City of Knowledge went from paper to action, and is today one of the most innovating centers in the region, where dozens of organizations perform their activities, interacting and contributing to the full development of Panama and Latin America.

From military fort to center of knowledge

The City of Knowledge is a beautiful example of space transformation. What was once designed to lodge a military base is now a center of knowledge, entrepreneurship and innovation. Weapons were exchanged for technological development, battalion flags for banners of international organizations working for peace, troop barracks for classrooms.

This transformation took place as a result of Panama's recovery of its sovereignty over the Canal area. For 80 years before that, Clayton Fort housed American troops whose function was to protect the Canal.

Clayton was established by an executive order signed by American President Woodrow Wilson on December 30, 1919, following recommendations by a team led by Major-General Adelbert Cronkhite. The facilities were named Fort Clayton as a tribute to the memory of Colonel Bertram T. Clayton, who led the troops in the Canal Area between 1914 and 1917 and who died in French territory during World War II, on May 30, 1918.

The appearance and structure of the fort were the result of evolution in American architecture and military base design, because it combined the classical arrangement of military bases in the USA in the late 19th century with early 20th century urban design style. There was also a strong influence from the team of civilian architects set up by Colonel Goethals to ensure that the Canal Area was made up of what he called "beautiful communities". "American citizens living in the Panama Canal Area should live in beautiful communities, communities which would contribute to the quality of life of their residents", Goethals, the mythical chief engineer of the Canal project, had written.

Once the Torrijos-Carter treaties began to be enforced, Fort Clayton was gradually dismantled. Its main military unit, the 193rd Infantry Brigade, left the base on October 14, 1994. The final ceremony, which put an end to 80 years of military activity on Panamanian ground, was held on July 30, 1999. On that day, the US Army South command (USARSO) said goodbye to Clayton to move its headquarters to Puerto Rico. A new era started for Panama, one of development and knowledge-building in the old military facilities.

Today, 296 acres of that Fort Clayton are taken up by the City of Knowledge, and in the rest of the old fort there are family residences, educational activities take place, and various organizations have their offices in a biodiverse, public and open space.

Main building where the City of Knowledge Foundation's Headquarters are located.

The old Clayton Fort premises are a small haven of natural diversity and wealth.

The building of Fort Clayton was, at the time, a model of mixed civilian-military development.

The end of American presence in Panama opened the door to innovating projects for building on the country's own options.

Legal Framework

The legal basis that allowed City of Knowledge Foundation to manage the City of Knowledge project is Executive Order number 6 of 1998 (in spanish), whereby the State provides for the assignment of Fort Clayton to this project, as well as the terms and obligations of both the Foundation and the State.

Our mission

The City of Knowledge's mission is being an international platform for knowledge management to promote sustainable development and the competitive advantages of Panama.

Leadership and independence

This experience constitutes a regional reference point for knowledge management through innovation. This complex and multifaceted experience is focused on the achievements and successes of its users.

The City of Knowledge Foundation is a private, non-profit organization and the project it directs is an independent endeavor and its independence guarantees its continuity. As a result, long-term goals can be established and a practical and realistic relationship with the political and economic environment can be maintained.

Panama

Competitive environment

Historically Panama has been a gathering point. The country offers a high level of financial, commercial and juridical security within the region, which allows for foreign investment and an internationally recognized positive business climate. The City of Knowledge's role is framed within this context of innovation and sustainable development.

Panama's geographic position has turned it into a strategic node for communications and transportation for the world's economy. In addition to the Canal, this node includes modern ports on both oceans complemented by logistics services as well as an air hub which connects the country to the rest of the planet.

5000 people

Community of users

The City of Knowledge is a unique experience that offers an environment in which to live, as well as all of the services that are typical of any community. The recreational, cultural, and corporate spaces are used daily by more than 5,000 people.

This community is made up of users who actively implement their initiatives. The success of their efforts consolidates and enhances the City of Knowledge. Additionally, visitors to the Campus, who attend events, conferences, and cultural gatherings, further enrich the exchange that takes place.

All of this fosters the work and collaboration of the FCDS' users, while creating a friendly environment within which creativity and productivity are cultivated.